SPOLIATION 



OF THE 



FALLS OF NIAGARA 



By D*. J. W. SPENCER 
Washington, D. C. 



Address before the American Association 

for the Advancement of Science, 

June 30th, J908 



Reprint from the Popular Science Monthly 
October, J908 




Hurt- /j f & O&d 



< 



PKESKNTEIJ I1Y 



SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 



By DK. J. W. SPENCER 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 



,7 
S863 






r ' 



[Reprinted from The Popular Science Monthly, October, 1908.] 






SPOLIATION" OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 1 

By Dr. J. W. SPENCER 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

1. First Reference to Niagara — Champlain. — A few weeks hence 
there will be celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the founda- 
tion of the city of Quebec, by the Great Champlain. Out of this grew 
the Dominion of Canada. Although the establishment of the little 
settlement on the St. Lawrence River made Champlain most famous, 
it is not in this that his chief greatness lay, but rather in his wonderful 
explorations in the lake region of the interior of the continent, through- 
out a long life spent in the wilderness. 

Jacques Cartier had ascended the St. Lawrence in 1535 and again 
a few years later. Champlain followed in his tracks as far up the 
river as Montreal (in 1603) five years before the settlement of Quebec. 
From the summit of the old volcanic mountain at Montreal he saw the 
first or Lachine rapids of the St. Lawrence, above which he could discern 
the smooth water of the expanded river, now known as Lake St. Louis. 
Here he received accounts from three different Indians as to the nature 
of the country beyond. Their communication must have been largely 
carried on by signs and diagrams, drawn on the sand. Although the 
first volume of Champlain's works is extremely rare, the accounts were 
transcribed by Lescarbot in his history of New France, published soon 
after, in 1609. The description of the rapids and various lake-like 
expansions of the St. Lawrence, the Thousand Islands, Lake Ontario, 
the occurrence of Niagara with its rapids, and Lake Erie reaching to 
Lake Huron "beyond which no man had been," were all so complete that 
a navigator unimpeded by hostile Indians could easily have found his 
way. But the natives were hostile, so that Lake Huron came to be 
known long before Lake Erie and the Niagara River. 

2. First Account of Niagara River. — Champlain never saw Niagara, 
1 Address before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
June 30; 1908. 

vol. lxxii. — 19. 



290 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 




SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 291 

but on his map of 1632 he represents a long series of rapids, located at 
the end of Lake Ontario, and says concerning them, "A very high fall 
of water at the end of the rapids of St. Louis (a name given to Lake 
Ontario) where many kinds of fish in descending are stunned." That 
the river was famous among the Indians, on account of the falls, and 
possibly among a few " Courreurs de bois " and missionary priests, is 
certain, as Father Lalement, who first mentions its name (Onguaahra), 
speaks of it as " so celebrated." This was in 1641, yet he does not 
mention the falls. In 164.5, Dr. Gendron wrote a letter about the falls, 
but this was not published until 1660; in the meanwhile (1648) Father 
Eagueneau mentions them as occurring on Niagara Eiver. This was 
the beginning of the historic period. 

3. Approaching Peril to Niagara Falls.— The Falls of Niagara are 
now entering another and much more critical epoch in their history. 
The time has not arrived when their use has become a necessity, and 
even in their spoliation, other and larger interests are at stake. Niagara 
is a world possession, yet its very existence is imperilled by the greed 
of a few persons, or for the exigencies of politicians. 

4. Commission for Investigation. — Extended operations were al- 
ready at work upon the falls, when Dr. Robert Bell, Canada's most 
distinguished geologist, at the head of the Geological Survey, commis- 
sioned me, three years ago, to make a complete investigation upon the 
recession of Niagara Falls, so as to record the undisturbed work of 
nature, and also to determine how far the falls could be diverted without 
bringing about unforeseen disasters. 

5. Opinions of Power Diversion. — At that time, in the opinion of 
some serious observers, the falls were imperilled, and Dr. John Clarke, 
state geologist of New York, pointed out the impending destruction of 
the American Falls. There were also many sensational magazine 
articles, bearing on the same subject, but in these no data were given 
by which to form judicious opinions. On the other hand, those inter- 
ested in the diversion of the water insisted that no serious damage would 
be done. Personally I had no opinion whatever, though I regretted the 
disfigurement of the falls, through the structures erected by the power 
companies, one such being placed even beneath the cataract itself, inside 
the Park Reservation on the .Canadian side, especially offensive as seen 
from the American side (shown in a succeeding plate, figure 8). 

6. International Waterway Commission established for saving the 
Falls. — Before this time, the late Honorable Andrew H. Green had se- 
cured the passage through Congress of a bill, authorizing the establish- 
ment of an International Waterway Commission, his specific object 
being the preservation of Niagara Falls. Indeed it was for this same 
object that the International Park at Niagara had been established at 
an earlier date, largely through the efforts of the Earl of Dufferin, 



292 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 

Governor General of Canada, and Mr. A. H. Green, of New York, who 
subsequently prevented the intrusion of all power structures in the 
state reservation on the New York side, a policy unfortunately not fol- 
lowed by the government on the Canadian side. Here even the park 
was widened, at the cost of the falls, in curtailing their crest-line by 
several hundred feet. Yet among those interested in the power com- 
panies it was commonly said that they were improving the park ; a few, 
who were powerless, seeing through this sophistry. That public opinion 
was swayed by such representations is not to be wondered at, for at a 
later date, April 26, 1906, the Canadian section of the commission states 
that, " It would be a sacrilege to destroy the scenic effect of Niagara 
Falls, unless and until the public needs are so imperative as to compel 
and justify the sacrifice" (p. 102), and yet they suggest no cur- 
tailment on the Canadian side. The report further says that, " It 
is possible to preserve the beauty, and yet permit the development 
on the Canadian side of the Niagara River " — of a certain amount of 
power on which I shall comment later, but no data are given on which 
the above statement is based. Indeed, I was unable to form any 
opinion whatsoever until my own investigations were made, which were 
begun before the proceedings of the International Commission, and 
not completed until some time after the premature report, cited above, 
appeared in print. 

7. Results, the Outcome of Purely Scientific Investigations. — The 
conclusions reached concerning the spoliation of the Falls of Niagara 
are the outcome of investigations into purely scientific problems, and 
a brief account of them may show more convincingly how these results 
have been obtained. Just twenty years ago, I had the honor of an- 
nouncing to this association the discovery that Lake Huron, with Mich- 
igan and Superior as tributaries, formerly emptied to the northeast, 
and did not discharge into a shrunken Lake Erie; and, consequently, 
Niagara was then a very small river. Six years later, I again laid 
before this association additional observations indicating that the falls 
had receded nearly three miles, when the Huron drainage was turned 
into Lake Eric; and with the fragmentary data bearing on the dis- 
charges of the rivers, an attempt was made, with only partial success, 
to determine the size of the original Niagara River. 

One of the chief problems of my latest investigations was to deter- 
mine the volume of the Niagara Eiver in its early stages. It was not 
a simple matter, for contradictions appeared in the data obtained, which 
had to be eliminated. This involved the whole question of the physics 
of the rivers, requiring months of labor to collect the data and analyze 
them. In this connection, I found that the outlets of both Lake Erie 
and Lake Ontario had been recently lowered, while Mr. Thomas Eussel, 
of the U. S. Lake Survey, had previously made the great discovery that 



SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 293 

the outlet of Lake Huron had also been lowered. This was the starting- 
point of the investigation into the spoliation of Niagara. The channel 
of the river had been deepened just after 1890, owing to natural scour 
by the currents, the effectiveness of which was increased by the powerful 
jamming of vast quantities of ice against the barriers at the Upper 
Rapids, immediately above the falls, and to a small extent by the 
shifting of the boulders on the river bed just below the outlet of Lake 
Erie. 

8. Corrections of Discharge Measurements. — The discharge meas- 
urements had been made by the U. S. Lake Survey after the lowering 
of the lake outlets had occurred, that of the Erie outlet causing the 
subsidence of the lake level to nearly one foot. As the daily records of 
the lake fluctuations have been kept for fifty years or more, it was 
possible to determine the discharges of the rivers throughout that time. 
Failing to take into consideration this lowering of the lake outlets, 
the calculations of the river discharges prior to 1891 were excessive, and 
those of Lakes Huron and Erie showed inadmissible differences ; as also 
found by Mr. Eussel. These discoveries reduce the calculated dis- 
charge of Niagara River, prior to 1891, by 22,000 cubic feet per second, 
which would bring its volume from 1860 to 1890 into agreement with 
the mean measured discharge for the fifteen years from 1891 to 1905, 
inclusive, or 204,000 cubic feet per second; and the low water discharge 
has fallen to 160,000 cubic feet. There have been years of high water 
and others of low, yet by taking groups of years, the mean values are 
remarkably uniform, but the latter period must not be regarded as one 
of low water, a fact which I can not too strongly emphasize, although 
the lake levels have actually been much lower than during the preceding 
period, due, as just stated, to the lowering of the outlets. Such years, 
however, as 1901, showed very low water in Lake Erie, and reduced 
discharge of Niagara River. 

9. Present very High Water. — In contrast with this, the lake-levels 
during 1907 were extraordinarily high, increasing even till the present 
month (June, 1908). Fragmentary information, preserved, indicates 
that Lakes Erie and Ontario were unusually low in 1819. The fuller 
record of subsequent years shows that the highest water occurred in 
1838, and nothing has been comparable to it until the present high 
stages. Although these do not make the lakes appear to be now so 
high as seventy years ago, this is because of the lowering of their 
outlets and the further diversion of water for power purposes, both of 
which, if allowed for, would bring the lakes to higher levels than at any 
time since records have been kept. The 1838 period of high water 
began in that year and continued until 1840, after which the lake levels 
subsided to normal conditions. There is no reason to suppose that 
the present extreme high-water conditions will continue longer than 



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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 







SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 295 

on previous occasions, although I am aware of a statement by an engineer 
holding a distinguished position, to the effect that we do not know that 
the levels are going to recede. This appears to have been said for 
politic reasons, as the pressure to further divert the water is very 
strong. 

There is much popular curiosity as to the cause of the high water, 
which is not wholly explained by the rainfall. Mr. E. S. Wheeler, of 
the U. S. Lake Survey, found in his elaborate study of the physics of 
the rivers that changes could be produced by ice jams holding back 
the discharge and raising the lake so high that upon the melting of 
the snows together with spring rains, the waters could not run out 
sufficiently fast during the ensuing season, so as to bring the levels of 
the lakes to their normal condition. These effects could accumulate 
during succeeding seasons so that the extraordinary stages might last 
not merely one year, but for several years. 

From the foregoing, it must be apparent to any one that no opinions 
can be formed on power diversion which ignore the fluctuations of lake 
levels, for as these vary, so do the discharges of the rivers. The mean 
discharge of the Niagara Eiver for 1901, a year of very low water, was 
14,000 cubic feet per second below that of the mean level from 1891 
to 1905. This was after the abstraction of a certain quantity of water, 
the exact amount of which is unknown to me, but probably not reaching 
10,000 cubic feet per second. The mean discharge during 1907 reached 
3 5,000 cubic feet per second above the average of the fifteen years 
mentioned; this being after the artificial abstraction of nearly 18,000 
cubic feet per second. Thus the entire diversion of the Niagara 
waters has been not only concealed by the extraordinary stages of 
the river, but a further quantity could be withdrawn without any 
apparent effect upon the falls. The increasing discharge of Lake 
Erie, during this year, reached the maximum on April 27, when it 
rose to 60,000 cubic feet per second above the average of the fifteen 
years mentioned, besides which the diversion was probably nearly 
18,000 cubic feet ; so that the full use of the franchises of the present 
power companies would not impair Niagara Falls to-day, but this 
condition can not last, and it is unfortunate that it should occur at 
this time, for the sake of those who are interested in the preservation 
of the falls, as well as in the navigation of the lakes. 

In studying the physics of Niagara Eiver, individual months or 
single years can not be adopted as standards, but I have found that 
satisfactory results can be obtained by taking groups of five-year 
periods. Perhaps some other arrangement might prove better. This 
has resulted in my adopting as standards of lake levels and river 
discharges, the means of the fifteen years succeeding the lowering 
of the lake outlets, and the present temporary high water will doubtless 



296 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 

adjust itself in the general averages, as on previous occasions, so that 
we must consider the effects of power diversion under normal condi- 
tions. As stated before, when the corrections are made in the discharge 
calculations prior to lS'Jl, they fall into harmony with those of more 
recent date. These corrections do not appear in the work of any other 
writer, but I find ih°m necessary, in order to explain incongruities, and 
to arrive at a satisfactory understanding of the effects of power diver- 
sion on Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes. Under these conditions, 
let us examine the physics of Niagara River. 

10. Basin above the Rapids. — Above Niagara Falls are the Upper 
Rapids, descending fifty-five feet to the brink of the cataract. These 
begin as the water passes over a rim of rock (see figures 2, 3, 5) which 
crosses the river at the head of Goat Island. This is the " critical 
point," not merely in the distribution of water over the falls, but also 
in the level of Lake Erie, and indirectly of Lakes Huron and Michigan. 
Except at one small part near the Canadian side, the rock rim is from 
two to five feet higher than the rock-floor of the shallowest part of the 
river, about seventeen miles above the head of the Upper Rapids, and 
two miles below the outlet of Lake Erie. Throughout this distance 
the river crosses a depression, refilled with drift, so that here the 
channel itself was easily excavated to a much greater depth than across 
the two rock barriers mentioned, thus forming, de facto, a basin begin- 
ning with the narrows at the Buffalo "Water Works, which are only 
1,850 feet across, soon widening out into the broad stretches of the 
river on either side of Grand Island, below which they unite into 
another basin, over a mile wide, above Goat Island and its associated 
rock rim. This from its greater height than at the Water Works, con- 
stitutes the true rim of the Erie basin. The slope of the river between 
these points is due to the narrowness of the outlet of the lake, where 
the waters are so piled up that they have a velocity reaching to eight 
miles an hour, while in the basin above Goat Island the current is 
reduced, and is there from two to four miles an hour. The descent 
of the river from the lake to the rock rim at the Upper Rapids is about 
twelve feet. 

11. Depth of Water on the Rim of Upper Rapids. — At mean stages, 
the average depth of the water in the American channel, as it begins 
to flow past Goat Island, is less than three feet, with a maximum of 
4.5 feet. In the Canadian channel, for some 400 or 500 feet from 
Goat Island, under present ordinary conditions, the water is only from 
half a foot to one foot in depth, then for another stretch it increases to 
between two and three feet, beyond which the river shoals, so that in 
ordinary stages the water is seen to descend, not only in almost broken 
streams, but it is so shallow that the floats which have been sent down 
the river do not pass over the rock ledges, but are carried by the 



SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 



297 



dividing currents on either side. Thus for perhaps half of the river 
from the Goat Island side, I have estimated the mean depth of the 
water over the rock rim as not exceeding two feet. Indeed, much of 
it is not over a foot in depth. Nearer the Canadian side it increases 
to nine feet (see figures 3 and 5). 





Fig. 3. Profile of Rim of Fiest Cascade, with forebay of Ontario Power 
Company in foreground. 

12. Portion of Falls in Immediate Peril.- — As the river is so shallow 
over the rock rim on the Goat Island side of the main channel, it forms 
only a thin sheet of water on the eastern side of the Canadian or Horse- 
shoe Falls, for a distance of 800 feet from the Goat Island end. In- 
deed, from the changes already effected, this sheet of water has been 
reduced in depth by sixteen inches, thus in many places exposing the 
shelf of rock over which the rapids are passing (figure 4). This por- 
tion of the falls I had considered as being in most immediate peril, even 
more so than the American Falls, but recent soundings, about the head 
of Goat Island, show that a rocky floor extends almost across to the 
main shore of New York, which in the future must divert to a large 
degree the supply of water from the American channel between the 
island and the shore. Accordingly, the American Falls are in equal 
danger with the eastern side of the Canadian cataract. 

I hope that in this study of the physics of the river, the importance 
of this rim has been sufficiently emphasized; for any lowering of the 
water in the basin, will cause the draining of the higher parts of this 
rocky barrier, which extends nearly two thirds of the breadth of the 



298 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 




Fig. 4. Eastern Side of Falls being drained. 
ground is situated in the park on the Canadian side. 



Power House in the back- 



channel from Goat Island — thus affecting most the eastern side of the 
falls. If it were broken through, as it will be in the distant, future by 
the recession of the falls, the water in the basin would be immediately 
lowered, and the Upper Eapids would reappear as a cataract just below 
the Buffalo Water Works, where the rock-floor is now seventeen feet 
below the surface of the river, while at a mile and a quarter farther 
down the drift has already been excavated to a depth of fifty-three 
feet. 

13. Artifical Openings now made in the Basin. — It is immaterial 
whether the artificial enlargement of the orifice to the basin be made 
across the rim, or from its sides, or from the bottom. One lateral 
channel has been made for a breadth of 100 feet, and a depth of four- 
teen feet below the surface of the basin. There is also a neighboring 
one of about equal proportions. These made channels consequently 
reach depths much below the general level of the rock rim. They con- 
stitute the intakes of the two power companies on the New York side, 
and were calculated to carry 14,500 cubic feet per second at low stages 
(see map, figure 5). 

On the Canadian side, the Ontario Power Company has installed 
a peculiar structure at the end of the rock rim, above which the river 
has a depth of five or six feet. Just below, at the natural edge of the 
basin, they threw out a wall, forming a wing-dam of some eight acres. 
This wall was brought to about the height of the river floor above. 



SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 



299 




Fig. 5. Map showing the Position of the first Cascade and the Basin 
whose Level is now being lowered by the Power Companies. 

The effect of this is to extend forward the rock rim of the basin. Be- 
hind this wall, they removed the rock floor, in some places to a depth 
of seven feet, so that there is now a general depth in their dam of some 
six feet below the surface of the barrier, over which the water flows 
as if naturally. By taking the water from the bottom of the dam, 
while the river is still flowing over the top, the same effect is produced 
as if it were taken by a tunnel from any part of the floor of the basin 
of the Upper Rapids, and so increases the discharge from the basin. 

The franchise of the Ontario Power Company is about 12,000 cubic 
feet per second, but works for only 4,000 cubic feet are completed. 
Their franchise has not been restricted as have been those of the New 
York Companies. The present amount of water due the New York 
Companies, as restricted under the Burton Act, is 14,500 cubic feet 
per second, although their franchises gave them 27,200 cubic feet per 
second. 

These detailed accounts are given to show unequivocally, despite 
assertions to the contrary made to me by Mr. George C. Gibbons, 
chairman and legal representative of the Canadian section of the com- 
mission, that not only the older New York Companies, but also the 
Ontario Power Company (the other Canadian companies' works being 
below the rapids) must lower the water in the basin above the Upper 
Eapids. Indeed, Mr. Gibbons signs the report stating that if the water- 
supply were taken from Chippawa Creek, Lake Erie would be lowered, 
as the supply would come from back-water derived from Niagara Biver. 
This back-water would be flowing from the same basin which has been 



3oo POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 

described, consequently there can be no difference whatsoever from what 
point of the basin the water is diverted. 

14. Water taken from One Side of Basin affects the Other Side. — 
That water can not be taken from one side of the basin without affect- 
ing the level on the other side is shown by the fact that, since the two 
New York companies began operations, the depth of the river, which 
is a mile across, near the mouth of Chippawa Creek, has been shoaled to 
the extent of eight or ten feet by the deposit of mud, owing to the 
slackened current in this part of the basin. So, also, when the power 
of the Ontario Company comes to be fully used, they will lower the 
water on the American Falls. Another proof of the diversion of 
water from the Canadian shore by the New York companies is the 
shoaling of the river just above the falls, where it was found necessary 
to throw a barrier to catch the water for the small local power plant, 
as the level of the river had sunk below the normal stage by the time 
one of the larger Canadian power plants was ready to begin operations. 

15. Power Diversion below the Upper Rapids. — There are two other 
power plants situated in the Canadian Park, but below the Upper Eapids. 
Consequently, they lose much by their inferior head of water. This is 
a great gain, in that, taking the water some fifty feet below the basin, 
the overflow of the rim is not increased, so that this diversion produces 
no effect whatever on the lowering of the lake levels, or on the American 
Falls, or eastern side of the Canadian. These companies take the 
water from the deepest part of the channel, and consequently their effect 
is least apparent. Their aggregate allowance is about 20,000 cubic feet 
per second, or a net of 235,000 electric horse-power. However, much 
damage has been done to the western side of the falls, largely owing 
to the Canadian Niagara Power Company, on account of which the 
widening of the park has shortened the crest of the Horseshoe Falls 
by 415 feet, leaving in place of the sheet of water, a dark wall of rock 
stretching out into the gorge. It is strange that this impairment seems 
already to be almost forgotten except by a few lovers of the great cata- 
ract, but on looking at the Canadian Falls from the upper bridge the 
effect is to reduce the diameter apparently by one fourth (see figure 1). 

16. Water taken by Canals. — The Welland and Erie canals divert 
less than 2,000 cubic feet per second, and, while the Chicago drainage 
canal takes at present scarcely more than 4,000, its rights extend to 
10,000 and they want 14,000. The diversion by the Chicago canal of 
10,000 cubic feet produces varying effects in the different basins, but 
it may be given at a lowering of the lakes by six inches, or some three 
inches for the basin at the Upper Eapids. 

17. Effect of Power Diversion on the Falls. — We are now in a posi- 
tion to determine the effect of power diversion upon Niagara Falls and 
upon the navigation of the lakes. The water taken from below the 



SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 301 

rim on the Canadian side may be omitted from the present discussion. 
This leaves a volume of 51,200 cubic feet per second, including that 
of the Chicago canal, conceded under the franchises, though tem- 
porarily limited to 44,500 cubic feet. At the beginning of 1908 there 
were approximately only 18,000 cubic feet per second in continuous 
use out of the amount affecting the basin (and this quantity may have 
been considerably reduced from the shutting down of some works), yet 
this diversion, together with the scour on the river, has lowered the 
water in the basin, immediately above, so that its level is sixteen inches 
lower than what it would have been, if no such changes had been 
effected. Half of the amount is due to the diversion of the water. 
It is this lowering of the water, just before passing the rim of the 
basin, at the head of the Upper Rapids, which is causing the lowering 
of the water on the falls, as shown in figure 4. 

In confirmation of the above results, let it be stated that on June 
14 a power company stopped its use of 8,000 cubic feet per second, 
and this caused the water in the basin to rise six inches (the diversion 
by the other companies and that of the Chicago canal was not arrested 
at the time). At the edge of the American Falls the water rose 1.2 
inches. 2 At mean water much of the American Falls is scarcely more 
than six inches deep. With the lowering from extraordinarily high 
water to normal conditions, and the diversion increased in the future 
to 44,500 or 51,200 cubic feet per second, taken from above the Upper 
Rapids, the basin will be further lowered from twelve to sixteen inches 
or more, so that much of the rim of the basin will be exposed, and 
thus the flow of water will be largely cut off, not merely from the 800 
feet on the eastern side of the Canadian Falls, thereby destroying that 
part, but also curtailing the water on the American Falls to half its 
present normal amount, which is only 5 per cent, of the total flow of 
both cataracts. This will be still further aggravated during years of 
low water, such as was 1901. 

The preservation of the falls is now a question of inches. Under 
the conditions as set forth, the whole of the Horseshoe Falls will have 
shrunken from a crest line of 2,950 feet to 1,600 feet (including the 
curtailment on the Canadian side), and their diameter will have been 
reduced from 1,200 to 800 feet (see figure 6). They will then be 

2 It was telegraphed all over the United. States that the rise was only a 
tenth of an inch, with congratulations of proof that no harm was being done 
to the falls. The term tenth-of-a-foot is one which would be used by engineers, 
but never in popular language, which depends upon inches. Hence the con- 
clusion, jumped at, is partly explicable, especially by the promotion of power 
diversion at Niagara. But the change of depth above the Upper Rapids is that 
which determines the distribution and destruction of the falls. Besides, on the 
day of test, the discharge was 25,000 cubic feet and also nearly 18,000 more for 
power diversion above the normal discharge of Niagara River. 



302 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 




Fig. 6. Niagaea Falls, American Branch. The half of falls on the right side 
of aa will be destroyed and that to the left damaged by full use of franchise amount. 



Goat Islapio 




Fig. 7. Map of Crest Line of Falls being shortened from 2,950 feet (in 
1900) to 1,600 feet under Full Franchise Diversion ; and Diameter curtailed 
from 1,200 to 800 feet. The remaining falls will be entirely in Canadian territory. 



SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 3°3 

entirely within Canadian territory, as the boundary line will become 
uncovered, leaving a narrow strip of rock between Goat Island and 
the great cataract. If the full franchise be used, the American Falls, 
which are 1,000 feet across, will have their southern half drained, as 
in figure 7, and will be further broken up into narrow sheets or strings 
of water. 

Any attempt at restoring either the American or the eastern side 
of the Canadian Falls, by deepening the channels on that side of the 
river, would increase the velocity of the currents above and cause an 
extraordinary demand on Lake Erie, the result of which would be the 
lowering of its level at an enormous cost. The same physical changes 
would subsequently take place in the Huron outlet as a consequence of 
the lowering of the Erie level. The artificial deepening of the channel 
would also increase the scour, not merely of the Niagara Eiver, but 
also the St. Clair channel, which lies in deposits of sand and clay. 

Until such time as the use of the water shall become imperative, 
the preservation of the International Park and the falls is a very small 
bit of luxury or extravagance compared with the value and cost of 
great city parks, or even one of them, such as the Central Park of New 
York. But there is also a commercial side to this question. The 
yearly number of visitors to Niagara varies from 600,000 to 1,200,000 
and the expenditure in transportation and at the falls is estimated 
as reaching sometimes $25,000,000 in a single year, giving pleasure 
and recreation to many people over the whole country. Are these 
considerations to be set aside for the gain of a few companies, or for 
political purposes? 

A limited amount of power can be used without detriment to the 
scenic effects. Under the Burton act, the two New York companies 
are at present restricted to a developed capacity which is about half 
their franchises. The Ontario Company's franchise has not been re- 
stricted, although their present plant is developed to only one third its 
prospective size (figure 8). The full use of their allowance will affect 
the falls to an even greater extent than the Chicago canal, and bring 
into prominence the impending disasters, after the full use of the water 
at Chicago. The most strenuous endeavors are being made to extend 
the spoliation of the falls to its utmost limit, and recently the Ontario 
Company has sought permission to harness even the Whirlpool Eapids, 
which are fifty-one feet in height and only a little less imposing than 
the falls themselves. This company desires to obtain from twenty to 
twenty-five per cent, of the flow of the river, or nearly 400,000 gross 
horse-power, besides the privilege of disfiguring the gorge by their 
structures, such as the one already placed below the falls, though this 
at present is only one third of its prospective size, as shown in figure 8. 
There are two other great power houses in the Canadian Park. Those 



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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 




Fig. 8. Ontario Company's Power House (270 feet long) immediately 
below the Falls in the Canadian Park. This is only a third of the proposed 
length ; even at present it is a most striking obstruction of the gorge, as seen from 
the New York side. 



on the New York side are not in the park and can not be seen from 
the falls, but the eastern banks of the river below the park are crowded 
with works. 

18. Effects on Navigation. — The canals and harbors are much shal- 
lower than they used to be. Several inches of this are due to the power 
diversion, which, however, is not at present seen, owing to very high 
water. The lowering of the level of the basin above the Upper Rapids, 
increasing the slope of the river, and consequently the velocity of the 
current, also lowers the level of the lake above. An increased dis- 
charge of 22,000 cubic feet per second lowers Lake Erie by one foot. 
On the large steamers in the carrying trade, each inch of draft repre- 
sents a return of $100 in extra freight receipts. The canals and 
harbors should not be reduced in depth by power diversions at a 
time when there is a clamor for deeper channels. The impairing of 
navigation, under conditions as shown above, threatens to reach two, 
or even two and a half feet. Under the estimate made for the 
American Section of the International Commission, the cost of repair- 
ing the damage caused by the Chicago drainage canal was found to 
exceed $12,000,000, so that the total costs to both countries on account 
of power diversion promises to reach twenty-five millions of dollars or 
more. Are the power companies willing to pay for their share of this 
costly franchise, and for the loss owing to the diminished business 
going to and at the falls, which may reach $25,000,000 a year? 



SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 305 

Unfortunately in the Province of Ontario it has become a political 
question, and there the government has adopted the Power Company 
which is causing the greatest amount of damage, although they could 
have obtained their supply from two other companies which are doing 
relatively little harm. 

A prominent man at Niagara Falls, N. Y., has expressed himself 
as follows : " The subject of the diversion for power purposes is a burn- 
ing question here, and a great number of unreliable and misleading 
statements have been made by interested parties to justify the diversion, 
stating that no damage will be done, and the work of Spencer " (refer- 
ring to my recent book on the Falls of Niagara 3 ) "is most timely in 
giving the results of a scientific examination of the whole problem, with 
the data on which the conclusions are based." In that work, the data 
are brought down only to January, ] 906, but this contribution is based 
upon additional information extended to the present day, enabling 
me to give fuller and more precise results than in the original work. 

The preservation of the falls now depends upon the governments 
at Washington and Ottawa. In the United States, apart from those 
interested in the diversion of the water, there is a wide-spread sentiment 
in favor of saving the scenic wonders of Niagara. But now another 
interest joins hands with this, which is economic and of great magni- 
tude, namely, the protection of navigation. It is to be hoped that 
the national governments will so control the matter that this unique 
world-treasure will be preserved for all time. 

At the present time the commission recommends the use of 28,500 
cubic feet per second for the two restricted American power companies 
and for the Chicago drainage canal, while 36,000 cubic feet per second 
are conceded to Canada. 

3 " The Falls of Niagara," by J. W. Spencer, Geological Survey of Canada, 
1907. 



voi,. lxxii. — 20. 




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